WEBVTT 00:01.510 --> 00:05.250 Book VII, Part II, of Eusebius' Church History. 00:06.110 --> 00:07.590 This is a LibriVox recording. 00:08.130 --> 00:10.750 All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. 00:11.370 --> 00:16.150 For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. 00:17.370 --> 00:19.270 Recording by David Leeson. 00:20.370 --> 00:22.850 Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea. 00:23.250 --> 00:25.410 Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. 00:26.110 --> 00:29.810 Book VII, Part II, Chapters XIII through XXIII. 00:31.510 --> 00:32.830 Chapter XIII. 00:33.410 --> 00:35.070 The Peace under Gallienus. 00:36.350 --> 00:42.210 Shortly after this, Valerian was reduced to slavery by the barbarians, and his son, 00:42.370 --> 00:46.250 having become sole ruler, conducted the government more prudently. 00:46.890 --> 00:51.850 He immediately restrained the persecution against us by public proclamations and 00:51.850 --> 00:56.530 directed the bishops to perform in freedom their customary duties, in a rescript 00:56.530 --> 00:57.990 which ran as follows. 00:58.730 --> 01:04.490 The Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Gallienus, Pius Felix Augustus, 01:04.890 --> 01:10.570 to Dionysius, Pinus, Demetrius, and the other bishops, I have ordered the 01:10.570 --> 01:15.110 bounty of my gift to be declared through all the world that they may depart from 01:15.110 --> 01:16.590 the places of religious worship. 01:17.150 --> 01:21.770 And for this purpose, you may use this copy of my rescript, that no one may 01:21.770 --> 01:22.570 molest you. 01:23.030 --> 01:27.450 And this, which you are now enabled lawfully to do, has already for a long 01:27.450 --> 01:29.290 time been conceded by me. 01:30.050 --> 01:34.510 Therefore, Aurelius Serenius, who is the chief administrator of affairs, 01:34.870 --> 01:37.230 will observe this ordinance which I have given. 01:38.490 --> 01:43.010 I have given this in a translation from the Latin, that it may be more readily 01:43.010 --> 01:43.650 understood. 01:44.410 --> 01:49.350 Another decree of his is extant addressed to other bishops, permitting them to take 01:49.350 --> 01:52.110 possession again of the so-called cemeteries. 01:53.730 --> 01:54.730 CHAPTER XIV. 01:55.370 --> 01:57.750 THE BISHOPS THAT FLOURISHED AT THAT TIME. 01:58.990 --> 02:04.390 At that time, Sistus was still presiding over the Church of Rome, and Demetrianus, 02:04.590 --> 02:09.850 successor of Fabius, over the Church of Antioch, and Firmilianus over that of 02:09.850 --> 02:11.350 Caesarea in Cappadocia. 02:11.790 --> 02:16.670 And besides these, Gregory and his brother Athenodorus, friends of origin, 02:17.130 --> 02:22.210 were presiding over the churches in Pontus, and Theoktistus, of Caesarea in 02:22.210 --> 02:26.350 Palestine having died, Domnus received the episcopate there. 02:26.950 --> 02:31.730 He held it but a short time, and Theoteknus, our contemporary, succeeded 02:31.730 --> 02:32.110 him. 02:32.410 --> 02:35.290 He also was a member of Origen's school. 02:35.750 --> 02:40.830 But in Jerusalem, after the death of Mazabenes, Hymenaeus, who has been 02:40.830 --> 02:45.050 celebrated among us for a great many years, succeeded to his seat. 02:46.130 --> 02:47.330 CHAPTER XV. 02:47.910 --> 02:50.510 THE MARTYRDOM OF MARINUS AT CAESAREA. 02:51.570 --> 02:56.070 At this time, when the peace of the churches had been everywhere restored, 02:56.550 --> 03:01.830 Marinus, in Caesarea in Palestine, who was honored for his military deeds and 03:01.830 --> 03:06.610 illustrious by virtue of family and wealth, was beheaded for his testimony to 03:06.610 --> 03:08.610 Christ on the following account. 03:09.230 --> 03:14.910 The vine branch is a certain mark of honor among the Romans, and those who obtain it 03:14.910 --> 03:16.830 become, they say, centurions. 03:17.410 --> 03:21.870 A place being vacated, the order of succession called Marinus to this 03:21.870 --> 03:22.350 position. 03:22.950 --> 03:27.130 But when he was about to receive the honor, another person came before the 03:27.130 --> 03:31.290 tribunal and claimed that it was not legal, according to the ancient laws, 03:31.550 --> 03:35.930 for him to receive the Roman dignity, as he was a Christian and did not 03:35.930 --> 03:40.570 sacrifice to the emperors, but that the office belonged rather to him. 03:41.790 --> 03:47.030 Thereupon the judge, whose name was Achaeus, being disturbed, first asked what 03:47.030 --> 03:51.490 opinion Marinus held, and when he perceived that he continually confessed 03:51.490 --> 03:55.010 himself a Christian, he gave him three hours for reflection. 03:55.930 --> 04:01.030 When he came out from the tribunal, Theoteknus, the bishop there, took him 04:01.030 --> 04:05.510 aside and conversed with him, and taking his hand, led him into the church. 04:06.030 --> 04:10.870 And standing with him within, in the sanctuary, he raised his cloak a little 04:10.870 --> 04:15.590 and pointed to the sword that hung by his side, and at the same time he placed 04:15.590 --> 04:20.430 before him the scripture of the divine gospels, and told him to choose which of 04:20.430 --> 04:21.450 the two he wished. 04:21.950 --> 04:26.390 And without hesitation he reached forth his right hand and took the divine 04:26.390 --> 04:26.950 scripture. 04:27.470 --> 04:33.110 Hold fast then, said Theoteknus to him, hold fast to God, and strengthened by him 04:33.110 --> 04:36.830 mayest thou obtain what thou hast chosen, and go in peace. 04:37.590 --> 04:42.230 Immediately on his return the herald cried out calling him to the tribunal, 04:42.590 --> 04:45.050 for the appointed time was already completed. 04:45.510 --> 04:49.530 And standing before the tribunal, and manifesting greater zeal for the 04:49.530 --> 04:55.530 faith, immediately as he was, he was led away and finished his course by death. 04:56.850 --> 04:57.850 Chapter 16. 04:58.610 --> 05:00.770 Story in regard to Asterius. 05:02.710 --> 05:07.870 Asterius also is commemorated on account of his pious boldness in connection with 05:07.870 --> 05:08.590 this affair. 05:09.190 --> 05:13.590 He was a Roman of senatorial rank, and in favor with the emperors, 05:13.930 --> 05:17.230 and well known to all on account of his noble birth and wealth. 05:17.950 --> 05:22.430 Being present at the martyr's death, he took his body away on his shoulder, 05:22.870 --> 05:27.930 and arraying him in a splendid and costly garment, prepared him for the grave in a 05:27.930 --> 05:31.030 magnificent manner, and gave him fitting burial. 05:31.550 --> 05:36.890 The friends of this man that remain to our day relate many other facts concerning 05:36.890 --> 05:37.310 him. 05:38.490 --> 05:39.870 Chapter 17. 05:40.370 --> 05:43.590 The Signs at Panius of the Great Might of Our Savior. 05:44.650 --> 05:47.670 Among these is also the following wonder. 05:48.110 --> 05:52.970 At Caesarea Philippi, which the Phoenicians call Panius, springs are shown 05:52.970 --> 05:56.670 at the foot of the mountain Panius, out of which the Jordan flows. 05:57.210 --> 06:01.990 They say that on a certain feast day, a victim was thrown in, and that through 06:01.990 --> 06:06.310 the power of the demon it marvelously disappeared, and that which happened was a 06:06.310 --> 06:08.090 famous wonder to those who were present. 06:09.110 --> 06:13.270 Asterius was once there when these things were done, and seeing the multitude 06:13.270 --> 06:16.530 astonished at the affair, he pitied their delusion. 06:17.090 --> 06:20.850 And looking up to heaven, he supplicated the God over all through Christ, 06:21.310 --> 06:25.430 that he would rebuke the demon who deceived the people, and bring the men's 06:25.430 --> 06:26.830 delusion to an end. 06:27.410 --> 06:32.010 And they say that when he had prayed thus, immediately the sacrifice floated on the 06:32.010 --> 06:36.950 surface of the fountain, and thus the miracle departed, and no wonder was ever 06:36.950 --> 06:39.150 afterward performed at the place. 06:40.690 --> 06:41.830 Chapter 18. 06:42.350 --> 06:45.950 The Statue Which the Woman with an Issue of Blood Erected. 06:46.770 --> 06:50.870 Since I have mentioned this city, I do not think it proper to omit an 06:50.870 --> 06:53.610 account which is worthy of record for posterity. 06:54.190 --> 06:58.870 For they say that the woman with an issue of blood, who, as we learn from the sacred 06:58.870 --> 07:02.850 gospel, received from our Saviour deliverance from her affliction, 07:03.350 --> 07:08.070 came from this place, and that her house is shown in the city, and that remarkable 07:08.070 --> 07:11.630 memorials of the kindness of the Saviour to her remain there. 07:12.510 --> 07:18.210 For there stands upon an elevated stone, by the gates of her house, a brazen image 07:18.210 --> 07:22.470 of a woman kneeling, with her hands stretched out as if she were praying. 07:23.250 --> 07:27.810 Opposite this is another upright image of a man, made of the same material, 07:28.290 --> 07:32.910 clothed decently in a double cloak, and extending his hand toward the woman. 07:33.630 --> 07:38.790 At his feet, beside the statue itself, is a certain strange plant, which climbs 07:38.790 --> 07:43.470 up to the hem of the brazen cloak, and is a remedy for all kinds of diseases. 07:44.470 --> 07:47.490 They say that this statue is an image of Jesus. 07:48.110 --> 07:52.830 It has remained to our day, so that we ourselves also saw it when we were staying 07:52.830 --> 07:53.550 in the city. 07:54.810 --> 07:59.730 Nor is it strange that those of the Gentiles who, of old, were benefited by 07:59.730 --> 08:04.370 our Saviour, should have done such things, since we have learned also that the 08:04.370 --> 08:09.010 likenesses of his apostles, Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, are 08:09.010 --> 08:14.270 preserved in paintings, the ancients being accustomed, as it is likely, according to 08:14.270 --> 08:18.870 a habit of the Gentiles, to pay this kind of honor indiscriminately to those 08:18.870 --> 08:21.190 regarded by them as deliverers. 08:22.070 --> 08:23.350 Chapter 19. 08:23.830 --> 08:25.730 The Episcopal Chair of James. 08:26.450 --> 08:31.730 The Chair of James, who first received the episcopate of the Church at Jerusalem from 08:31.730 --> 08:36.670 the Saviour himself and the apostles, and who, as the divine records show, 08:36.670 --> 08:41.710 was called a brother of Christ, has been preserved until now, the brethren 08:41.710 --> 08:46.050 who have followed him in succession there exhibiting clearly to all the reverence 08:46.050 --> 08:52.110 which both those of old times and those of our own day maintained and do maintain for 08:52.110 --> 08:56.690 holy men on account of their piety, so much as to this matter. 08:58.370 --> 08:59.210 Chapter 20. 08:59.650 --> 09:04.610 The Festal Epistles of Dionysius, in which he also gives a paschal canon. 09:06.290 --> 09:11.250 Dionysius, besides his epistles already mentioned, wrote at that time also his 09:11.250 --> 09:16.530 extant festal epistles, in which he uses words of Panegyric respecting the Passover 09:16.530 --> 09:17.030 feast. 09:17.650 --> 09:22.130 He addressed one of these to Flavius, and another to Domitius and Didymus, 09:22.490 --> 09:27.250 in which he sets forth a canon of eight years, maintaining that it is not proper 09:27.250 --> 09:31.230 to observe the paschal feast until after the vernal equinox. 09:31.870 --> 09:36.210 Besides these, he sent another epistle to his fellow presbyters in Alexandria, 09:36.750 --> 09:40.990 as well as various others to different persons while the persecution was still 09:40.990 --> 09:41.590 prevailing. 09:43.110 --> 09:44.410 Chapter 21. 09:44.850 --> 09:46.730 The Occurrences at Alexandria. 09:48.050 --> 09:53.770 Peace had but just been restored when he returned to Alexandria, but as sedition 09:53.770 --> 09:58.510 and war broke out again, rendering it impossible for him to oversee all the 09:58.510 --> 10:02.970 brethren separated in different places by the insurrection at the feast of the 10:02.970 --> 10:08.230 Passover, as if he were still in exile from Alexandria, he addressed them again 10:08.230 --> 10:08.910 by letter. 10:10.190 --> 10:14.790 And in another festal epistle written later to Hyrax, a bishop in Egypt, 10:14.990 --> 10:19.570 he mentions the sedition then prevailing in Alexandria as follows. 10:20.290 --> 10:24.870 What wonder is it that it is difficult for me to communicate by letters with those 10:24.870 --> 10:30.290 who live far away, when it is beyond my power even to reason with myself or to 10:30.290 --> 10:31.950 take counsel for my own life. 10:33.230 --> 10:38.510 Truly I need to send letters to those who are as my own bowels, dwelling in one 10:38.510 --> 10:43.750 home, and brethren of one soul and citizens of the same church, but how to 10:43.750 --> 10:49.290 send them I cannot tell, for it would be easier for one to go, not only beyond the 10:49.290 --> 10:54.370 limits of the province, but even from the east to the west, than from Alexandria to 10:54.370 --> 10:55.650 Alexandria itself. 10:56.710 --> 11:01.330 For the very heart of the city is more intricate and impassable than that great 11:01.330 --> 11:04.570 and trackless desert which Israel traversed for two generations. 11:05.310 --> 11:10.570 And our smooth and waveless harbors have become like the sea, divided and walled 11:10.570 --> 11:14.590 up, through which Israel drove and in whose highway the Egyptians were 11:14.590 --> 11:19.310 overwhelmed, for often from the slaughters they're committed they appear like the Red 11:19.310 --> 11:19.750 Sea. 11:21.190 --> 11:26.030 And the river which flows by the city has sometimes seemed drier than the waterless 11:26.030 --> 11:30.650 desert, and more parched than that in which Israel, as they passed through it, 11:30.910 --> 11:35.830 so suffered for thirst, that they cried out against Moses, and the water flowed 11:35.830 --> 11:39.770 for them from the steep rock, through him who alone doeth wonders. 11:41.290 --> 11:46.210 Again it has overflowed so greatly as to flood all the surrounding country and the 11:46.210 --> 11:50.750 roads and the fields, threatening to bring back the deluge of water that occurred in 11:50.750 --> 11:51.570 the days of Noah. 11:52.030 --> 11:56.890 And it flows along, polluted always with blood and slaughter and drownings, 11:57.170 --> 12:01.530 as it became for Pharaoh through the agency of Moses, when he changed it into 12:01.530 --> 12:02.950 blood, and it stank. 12:04.250 --> 12:08.110 And what other water could purify the water which purifies everything? 12:08.710 --> 12:13.630 How could the ocean, so great and impassable for men, if poured into it, 12:13.890 --> 12:15.450 cleanse this bitter sea? 12:15.830 --> 12:20.410 Or how could the great river which flowed out of Eden, if it poured the four heads 12:20.410 --> 12:24.590 into which it is divided into the one of Gihon, wash away this pollution? 12:26.370 --> 12:31.410 Or when can the air poisoned by these noxious exhalations become pure? 12:31.870 --> 12:36.810 For such vapors arise from the earth, and winds from the sea, and breezes from 12:36.810 --> 12:41.310 the river, and mists from the harbors, that the dews are, as it were, 12:41.790 --> 12:46.150 discharges from dead bodies putrefying in all the elements around us. 12:46.890 --> 12:51.090 Yet men wonder and cannot understand whence these continuous pestilences, 12:51.550 --> 12:56.110 whence these severe sicknesses, whence these deadly diseases of all kinds, 12:56.550 --> 13:01.250 whence this various and vast human destruction, why this great city no longer 13:01.250 --> 13:06.290 contains as many inhabitants, from tender infants to those most advanced in life, 13:06.610 --> 13:10.190 as it formerly contained of those whom it called hearty old men. 13:10.710 --> 13:15.390 But the men from forty to seventy years of age were then so much more numerous that 13:15.390 --> 13:19.930 their number cannot now be filled out, even when those from fourteen to eighty 13:19.930 --> 13:23.850 years are enrolled and registered for the public allowance of food. 13:24.930 --> 13:29.470 And the youngest in appearance have become, as it were, of equal age with 13:29.470 --> 13:31.490 those who formerly were the oldest. 13:32.390 --> 13:36.930 But though they see the race of men thus constantly diminishing and wasting away, 13:37.370 --> 13:41.490 and though their complete destruction is increasing and advancing, they do not 13:41.490 --> 13:42.170 tremble. 13:43.670 --> 13:51.090 Chapter 22 The Pestilence Which Came Upon Them After these events, a pestilential 13:51.090 --> 13:55.630 disease followed the war, and at the approach of the feast he wrote again to 13:55.630 --> 13:59.690 the brethren, describing the sufferings consequent upon this calamity. 14:00.770 --> 14:05.970 To other men the present might not seem to be a suitable time for a festival, 14:06.550 --> 14:11.330 nor indeed is this or any other time suitable for them, neither sorrowful 14:11.330 --> 14:14.710 times, nor even such as might be thought especially cheerful. 14:15.430 --> 14:21.050 Now indeed everything is tears and everyone is mourning, and wailings resound 14:21.050 --> 14:24.990 daily through the city because of the multitude of the dead and dying. 14:26.530 --> 14:31.910 For as it was written of the firstborn of the Egyptians, so now there has arisen a 14:31.910 --> 14:35.830 great cry, for there is not a house where there is not one dead. 14:36.730 --> 14:38.390 And would that this were all! 14:38.830 --> 14:41.310 For many terrible things have happened already. 14:41.850 --> 14:46.810 First they drove us out, and went alone and persecuted and put to death by all, 14:47.150 --> 14:48.950 even then we kept the feast. 14:49.310 --> 14:54.170 And every place of affliction was to us a place of festival, field, desert, 14:54.510 --> 14:56.190 ship, inn, prison. 14:56.910 --> 15:01.470 But the perfected martyrs kept the most joyous festival of all, feasting in 15:01.470 --> 15:01.810 heaven. 15:03.110 --> 15:08.190 After these things war and famine followed, which we endured in common with 15:08.190 --> 15:08.830 the heathen. 15:09.390 --> 15:14.530 But we bore alone those things with which they afflicted us, and at the same time we 15:14.530 --> 15:19.290 experienced also the effects of what they inflicted upon and suffered from one 15:19.290 --> 15:24.190 another, and again we rejoiced in the peace of Christ, which he gave to us 15:24.190 --> 15:24.690 alone. 15:25.710 --> 15:31.290 But after both we and they had enjoyed a very brief season of rest, this pestilence 15:31.290 --> 15:32.110 assailed us. 15:32.110 --> 15:36.930 To them more dreadful than any dread, and more intolerable than any other 15:36.930 --> 15:42.190 calamity, and, as one of their own writers has said, the only thing which prevails 15:42.190 --> 15:43.310 over all hope. 15:44.010 --> 15:48.710 But to us this was not so, but no less than the other things was it an exercise 15:48.710 --> 15:54.390 and probation, for it did not keep aloof even from us, but the heathen it assailed 15:54.390 --> 15:55.310 more severely. 15:56.550 --> 16:01.690 Farther on, he adds, the most of our brethren were unsparing in their exceeding 16:01.690 --> 16:03.270 love and brotherly kindness. 16:03.970 --> 16:08.730 They held fast to each other and visited the sick fearlessly, and ministered to 16:08.730 --> 16:11.390 them continually, serving them in Christ. 16:12.110 --> 16:16.230 And they died with them most joyfully, taking the affliction of others, 16:16.490 --> 16:19.930 and drawing the sickness from their neighbors to themselves, and willingly 16:19.930 --> 16:21.350 receiving their pains. 16:22.510 --> 16:26.830 And many who cared for the sick and gave strength to others died themselves, 16:26.970 --> 16:29.290 having transferred to themselves their death. 16:30.090 --> 16:33.930 And the popular saying, which always seems a mere expression of courtesy, 16:34.510 --> 16:38.950 they then made real in action, taking their departure, as the others, 16:39.310 --> 16:40.110 off scouring. 16:41.630 --> 16:46.770 Truly the best of our brethren departed from life in this manner, including some 16:46.770 --> 16:50.790 presbyters and deacons and those of the people who had the highest reputation, 16:51.450 --> 16:55.990 so that this form of death, through the great piety and strong faith it exhibited, 16:56.490 --> 16:58.670 seemed to lack nothing of martyrdom. 16:59.290 --> 17:03.310 And they took the bodies of the saints in their open hands and in their bosoms, 17:03.650 --> 17:05.670 and closed their eyes and their mouths. 17:06.010 --> 17:10.470 And they bore them away on their shoulders and laid them out, and they clung to them 17:10.470 --> 17:11.470 and embraced them. 17:11.950 --> 17:14.930 And they prepared them suitably with washings and garments. 17:15.570 --> 17:19.910 And after a little they received like treatment themselves, for the survivors 17:19.910 --> 17:23.030 were continually following those who had gone before them. 17:24.370 --> 17:27.170 But with the heathen everything was quite otherwise. 17:27.910 --> 17:32.310 They deserted those who began to be sick, and fled from their dearest friends. 17:32.730 --> 17:37.110 And they cast them out into the streets when they were half dead, and left the 17:37.110 --> 17:38.970 dead like refuse, unburied. 17:39.530 --> 17:43.610 They shunned any participation or fellowship with death, which yet, 17:43.790 --> 17:47.390 with all their precautions, it was not easy for them to escape. 17:48.850 --> 17:53.890 After this epistle, when peace had been restored to the city, he wrote another 17:53.890 --> 17:58.870 festal letter to the brethren in Egypt, and again several others besides this. 17:59.310 --> 18:04.410 And there is also a certain one extant on the Sabbath, and another on exercise. 18:05.830 --> 18:10.630 Moreover, he wrote again an epistle to Hermammon and the brethren in Egypt, 18:11.070 --> 18:15.670 describing at length the wickedness of Decius and his successors, and mentioning 18:15.670 --> 18:17.410 the peace under Gallienus. 18:18.350 --> 18:19.590 Chapter 23. 18:20.010 --> 18:21.490 The Reign of Gallienus. 18:22.130 --> 18:26.230 But there is nothing like hearing his own words, which are as follows. 18:27.030 --> 18:31.590 Then he, having betrayed one of the emperors that preceded him, and made war 18:31.590 --> 18:35.370 on the other, perished with his whole family speedily and utterly. 18:36.170 --> 18:40.370 But Gallienus was proclaimed and universally acknowledged at once an old 18:40.370 --> 18:44.550 emperor and a new, being before them and continuing after them. 18:45.870 --> 18:50.930 For according to the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah, Behold, the things from 18:50.930 --> 18:55.130 the beginning have come to pass, and new things shall now arise. 18:55.650 --> 19:00.430 For as a cloud passing over the sun's rays and obscuring them for a little time hides 19:00.430 --> 19:05.390 it and appears in its place, but when the cloud has passed by or is dissipated, 19:05.750 --> 19:10.670 the sun which had risen before appears again, so Macrianus, who put himself 19:10.670 --> 19:16.410 forward and approached the existing empire of Gallienus, is not, since he never was, 19:16.670 --> 19:19.050 but the other is just as he was. 19:20.250 --> 19:25.410 And his kingdom, as if it had cast aside old age and had been purified from the 19:25.410 --> 19:30.750 former wickedness, now blossoms out more vigorously, and is seen and heard farther, 19:31.150 --> 19:32.910 and extends in all directions. 19:34.290 --> 19:38.830 He then indicates the time at which he wrote this in the following words. 19:39.550 --> 19:45.110 It occurs to me again to review the days of the imperial years, for I perceive that 19:45.110 --> 19:50.270 these most impious men, though they have been famous, yet in a short time have 19:50.270 --> 19:51.290 become nameless. 19:51.850 --> 19:55.890 But the holier and more godly prince, having passed the seventh year, 19:56.230 --> 19:59.970 is now completing the ninth, in which we shall keep the feast. 20:00.910 --> 20:02.910 End of Book 7, Part 2.